{"id":10625,"date":"2014-11-20T18:46:22","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T23:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/?p=10625"},"modified":"2014-11-20T18:46:22","modified_gmt":"2014-11-20T23:46:22","slug":"in-the-words-of-jesus-part-1188","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/20\/in-the-words-of-jesus-part-1188\/","title":{"rendered":"IN THE WORDS OF JESUS\u2013Part 1188"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON LOVE; PART\u00a0DCCLXXVII<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391<\/span><\/h6>\n

GoodWill\u00a0IS Love in Action<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391<\/span><\/h6>\n
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these<\/em>” (Mark 12:29-31).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/span><\/p>\n

WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them<\/em>” (Matthew 7:12).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the last essay we took our view of the grace<\/em> of God which IS but a nebulous word that represents ALL things that come from God through the God and the Christ Within;\u00a0this\u00a0IS His Love and His Presence in the Life of the man in this world. We applied our ideas\u00a0to the greater reality of discipleship as seen through the Master’s words on the quid pro quo that He offers us and the final commandment that He gives to His apostles which\u00a0we KNOW\u00a0as the Great Commission. We should remember here that this idea of grace<\/em> can be viewed both globally and individually and it IS the individual sense of grace<\/em> that brings a man to the Kingdom of God or, better, his realization<\/strong><\/em> of the Kingdom of God Within. While the global sense of this “free gift<\/em>” IS ever with us as the Way of God in relation to His creation\u00a0and\u00a0the Advent of the Master and other teachers over the centuries, this IS generally confused with the happenstance that benefits the religious man in this world.\u00a0In the doctrinal view,\u00a0Grace<\/em>\u00a0IS often seen as the carnal benefits that a may come to a man in this world. In the reality of carnal living however there IS NO such reality as both the religious and the irreligious can find the same benefits and there ARE many who are far outside of the Master’s words and who benefit carnally in this world. It IS rather the focus<\/em> of one’s Life in form that determines his ability to ‘thrive’ in this world of men along some carnal line of effort or thought which, in conjunction with his predispositions of body and personality and the deeper aspects of karma, create the man in this world. In the deeper Truths of Life according to the spiritual precepts of the Master, it IS the man who ‘thrives’ here in this Earth who will have the more difficult time in overcoming<\/em> the world if he should choose to DO so, it IS this man who has much more to shed in this effort to stand as a\u00a0disciple of the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n

It IS in this view that the denominations that teach that worldly benefits ARE the grace<\/em> of God Truly mislead the people and the greater their doctrinal focus<\/em> on the the worldly benefits of Life in this world, the farther from the Truth of spiritual Life they take the adherent. While this may seem a harsh view of some doctrines, there IS much Truth in what we are saying; if the focus<\/em> of the man in the world IS upon the things of the world then it IS this that becomes important to him and the idea of religion becomes merely a tool toward an carnal end which IS NOT in accordance with the words of the Master and His apostles. In the reality of the Master’s words and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles there IS the reality of the Presence of God which IS the individual form of grace<\/em> that comes to the man in this world who will keep His words<\/em> and His commandments and, while this IS clearly stated in the New Testament and in many ways, this IS NOT seen and understood as this IS presented. We can have theories on why there IS this dysfunction between the words of the Master and His apostles and the interpretation and application of these in the world of men but\u00a0in the reality of Life our best realization<\/em><\/strong> of Truth is found in the misconceptions of Life and in the glamour<\/strong> that pervades the minds of men who believe that they KNOW the Truth. This glamour,<\/strong> which IS\u00a0grounded int the illusions<\/strong> of Life in this world, shows men their own version of Truth which varies according the the denomination and practice and which IS founded in the basic idea that men CAN NOT DO as the Master instructs. It IS in this light that the dilution of the words of the Master and the interpretations of the His words and those of His apostles ARE allowed to change the writer’s intent to fit the carnal ways of men.<\/span><\/p>\n

An example of this view that it IS NOT possible for the man in the world to accomplish the Truth, that the man in the world CAN NOT DO as the Master nor as His apostles, IS found in this simple idea from John Gill which is offered in commentary about the Great Commandments that we have again at the top of our essay; we read:\u00a0thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all\u00a0thy soul, and with all thy mind<\/strong>;\u00a0that is, with all the powers and faculties of the soul, the will, the understanding, and the affections; in the most sincere, upright, and perfect manner, without any dissimulation and hypocrisy, and above all objects whatever, for this the law requires; and which man, in his state of innocence, was capable of, though now fallen, he is utterly unable to perform; so far from it, that without the grace of God, he has no true love at all to God, in his heart, soul and mind, but all the reverse; his carnal mind is enmity against God, and everything that is divine and good, or that belongs unto him: and though this is now the case of man, yet his obligation to love the Lord in this manner is still the same; and when the Spirit of God does produce the grace and fruit of love in his soul, he does love the Lord sincerely<\/em> 8<\/sup>. It IS likely views such as this in the early church and in the previous traditions and doctrines of the Jews that have created this sense of impossibility and have led men to conclude and to\u00a0believe<\/em> that the reality of keeping His words<\/em> IS NOT the required reality for the individual grace<\/em> of God in one’s Life, and this despite the Master’s own words to the contrary. We should try to see that what Mr. Gill argues against IS the very idea that the Apostle Paul gives to us; the Way to the reality of the Presence of God in the Life of the man in this world. Paul tells us: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God<\/em>” (Romans 12:2).<\/span><\/p>\n

In the apostle’s words we have the steady progression of grace<\/em> in the Life of the man in this world and this grace<\/em> IS the Transforming<\/em><\/strong> Power in the Life of the man who Truly seeks God. Some may see this idea of conforming<\/em> as that this refers to: either the Mosaic dispensation, and Jewish church state, so called in opposition to “the world to come”, the Gospel dispensation…<\/em>OR\u00a0else the men of the world are designed, carnal and unregenerate men, among whom they formerly had their conversation, from among whom they were chosen, called, and separated, and who lie and live in wickedness, and therefore should not be conformed unto them<\/em> 8<\/sup>. In these ideas from John Gill we have the doctrinal view of some yet today which IS NOT in accordance with our view of the intent of the apostle who Truly means to infer ALL of the ways of the world from which he himself has escaped. It IS the very idea of Transforming<\/strong><\/em> that brings us the greater value of grace<\/em> and of the Presence of God as the steady shift in the focus<\/em> of one’s Life away from the ways and things of the world and onto the things of God. It IS these ideas that are incorporated into ALL of the sayings on the separation of the world from God insofar as the focus<\/em> of men should be; it IS in these ideas that we should see the Master’s Truths regarding “God and mammon<\/em>” and His Truth on the separation between the “treasures in heaven<\/em>” and those “treasures upon earth<\/em>“. It IS in this idea of Transforming<\/strong><\/em> that we should understand the Master’s words saying “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also<\/em>”\u00a0(Matthew 6:24, 20, 19, 21). And it IS in these idea that we find those sayings from the apostles regarding this division of having ones thoughts and attitudes upon the things of the world or upon the things of God.\u00a0In the Apostle James telling us that “that the friendship of the world is enmity with God<\/em>” (James 4:4) and\u00a0John’s telling us that to “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world<\/em>” (1 John 2:15), we should see the reality; we should understand that the idea of this Love, this friendship<\/em> and the conformity<\/em> ALL mean the same thing which IS to look away from the world and to Look toward God. As we have said in previous essays, even if one should view mammon<\/em> and treasure<\/em> merely as wealth and possessions, the doctrinal church still misses the mark as they\u00a0apply carnal ideas to the apostle’s words of\u00a0Love, friendship<\/em> and conformity. <\/em>John uses the idea of agape<\/em> in referring to this Love for the world\u00a0and\u00a0in this sense of Love we should NOT see the carnal ideas of emotional and mental attraction and attachment but rather the converse of the intent of this word as it would apply to or from God. The greater reality of the apostle’s word on Love\u00a0IS in the idea that we should NOT treasure<\/em> these things or choose these things of the world over God. And we see this in the context of his words which we read as:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBrethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.\u00a0Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.\u00a0He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.\u00a0He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.\u00a0But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes\u2026..Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.\u00a0For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.\u00a0And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever<\/em>\u201d (1 John 2:7-11, 15-17).<\/span><\/p>\n

It IS in the totality of the message here that we should see the apostle’s intent regarding Love for the world or the thoughts and and attitudes that ARE of this world and we should see as well John’s intended correlation between KNOWING God and Loving God; that each requires that same idea that we keep His words<\/em>. John presents this to us in much the same way as he presents his thoughts on Love; we read: “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.\u00a0He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.\u00a0But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.\u00a0He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked<\/em>” (1 John 2:3-6). In the depth of John’s words here we should see the whole of the objective of spiritual Life and of following the Lord; we should see the entirety of the journey of man from his focus<\/em> upon the things of the world to his Transformation<\/em><\/strong> and his focus<\/em> upon the things of God. Despite the overwhelming weight of these ideas from the Master and His apostles, men still choose the realm of mammon<\/em> and the things of the world as their focus<\/em> and in this we should see ALL men who have not entered upon that journey that begins with True Repentance<\/strong><\/em>. Perhaps it IS in\u00a0view of this overwhelming weight of DOING, the perceived difficulty in keeping His words<\/em>, that men have formulated their doctrines which seem to merge the spiritual and the carnal into a single path which, according to the words of the Master and His apostles, DOES NOT lead to the Kingdom of God.\u00a0And perhaps it IS in view of this that the Master and His apostles have offered us another way to accomplish the True goals of Life, the way of Love which the Master shows us IS equivalent to keeping His words,<\/em> an\u00a0equivalency to\u00a0which the apostles testify. And this way of Love IS twofold from the perspective of the man in the world; the Master\u00a0tells us that we show our Love for God by keeping His words<\/em> and, as the apostles\u00a0show us, keeping His words<\/em>\u00a0IS\u00a0found in the Truth of this Love as our expression<\/em><\/strong> to ALL \u00a0men.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Master shows us that Love for God is tied to keeping His words<\/em> in many sayings including His\u00a0simply straightforward words saying “If ye love me, keep my commandments<\/em>” (John 14:15) and Paul shows us the reality of keeping His words<\/em> through our expression<\/em><\/strong> of Love to ALL men saying: “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself<\/em>” (Galatians 5:14). It IS this Love that John shows us throughout his epistle; in the selection that we have been carrying for several essays now and in his other ideas that show us reality of the application of this Love as our expression<\/em><\/strong> to the world. We should note again that the apostle DOES combine the ideas of Loving God and KNOWING God as we see in his use of these ideas above and in the similarly worded saying that “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments<\/em>“. We should remember here also how that this idea of KNOWING IS related to the Master’s use of the idea of faith<\/em> and our understanding of this faith<\/em> as that KNOWING, NOT ONLY God in this global sense but the God Within whose expression<\/strong><\/em> in this world IS that faith<\/em> that can move the mountain. In John’s words\u00a0we also have a more specific tie of this Love with this KNOWING as we read: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.\u00a0He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love<\/em>” (1 John 5:3, 4:7-8). And it IS the practical application of this Love that we read in the apostle’s words from the previous chapters which ideas we take up today for their relationship to the Master’s own words on how that we should Love and treat ALL others in this world:<\/span><\/p>\n

“whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?\u00a0My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.\u00a0And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.\u00a0For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.\u00a0Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.\u00a0And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.\u00a0And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.\u00a0And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us<\/em>” (1 John 3:17-24).<\/span><\/p>\n

There IS much more here in the apostle’s words that we will consider in future posts but we close today repeating the Master’s own words on this same application of Love; here we should see that it IS this application of Love that IS the equivalent to keeping His Words<\/em> as Paul shows us above:<\/span><\/p>\n